Knee surgery

[Carpdaddy]

Keep working at it, there are Elk that must be hunted, and you-da-man!

[Elkman]

Hey,
It's been awhile since my last update. Thought I would be done with PT by now, but no such luck.

Right now I am about 70 to 75% of normal and they want me to be at least 80% before I am released from PT. They are somewhat treating me like an athlete since my goal is to get back to chasing Elk around better in the mountains here in Montana.
My quads are doing better, but still small compared to my left leg. I am starting to work on cardio now. Being down for 4 months takes a lot out of you as you all know. Next week I will start some treadmill stuff with even some light jogging. I am up to 170 lb single leg presses, trying to get to 185. They have me doing some jumping and some lateral moving exercises.

I hope it's worth it.

[Hill billy]

Holy cow elk!! Sounds like they want you to chase them down with a knife. Hang in there Tom!! Maybe you will gain some physical conditioning at there expense. Your young enough to keep on keeping on. Lots of elk to be chased.

[Captainkirk]

Thanks for the update, Tom!
We are slowly getting back to normalcy here after a nasty bout with the "B" flu virus...just in time for Corona to crash the stock market and cripple the industry and business of this country.

[Grizzly]

Is it the virus doing that or the heads of the networks?

[Grizzly]

Elkman, I'm glad they are working you hard. You will greatly appreciate the strength you'll gain for years to come. After Viet Nam someone drove over the hood of my MGB and broke my knee cap. I really don't know all of what they did to repair everything, but I remember some muscles were cut. i was told to lift weights with it and that's about it. No PT since I had no insurance back then. I hated the pain in the knee when lifting and instead I hunted a valley and the surrounding ridges from Sep thru mid Dec thinking that would strengthen it. I gained alot of mobility but never did regain all the strength in the large muscle groups. Now much later in life I have to be careful, because if I slip it tends to fold back under me and i go down on that knee. I did it once at work on concrete, slipping on some oil. I could barely stand and went to get it looked at. The Dr ordered a MRI for the morning to see what was wrong. That night in my recliner, feeling around the knee cap I felt it was cracked right down the middle. Something maybe an old time country Dr might have done years ago. Anyway, I just had to let it heal. So keep at it and regain all the strength you can while you can and go get an elk as soon as you are able. And don't forget the pictures

[Nock]

Sounds like you are on right track.

[jaydee2trad]

How is your knee doing now?

[White Falcon]

Take it SLOOOOW!

[Elkman]

Well it's been what 6 or 7 months now. I still have pain and I'm starting to think I should have just left it alone. I'm getting worried that I will end up worse than before the surgery. I am very close to full range of motion. I was up to 200 lbs single leg presses and my left leg is at 240. I can walk pretty close to normal but at times I find myself favoring it because of how it is feeling. Not that it is really hurting, but it keeps getting very stiff. I also have this weird lack of feeling around my shin below the knee cap. The Dr said it should go back to normal. Some people it just takes longer he said. There is a nerve they cut that has to heal.

On top of all that the VA has stopped my PT. I have had a couple setbacks and my DR wanted more PT and I am now playing the waiting game. The Therapist was about to get me setup with a home therapy program when the VA stopped therapy.

I now have 2 1/2 more months till my archery Elk season. Everyone involved said I should be ready, but I'm not sure.